Control valve for grain dividers



July 29,, 1952 w. H. TANKE CONTROL VALVE FOR GRAIN DIVIDERS Filed April 15, 1950 Patented July 29, 1952 WillardH. Tanke, La Crosse, Wis., assignor-to ufactu'ring Company, Mil;

. 'Al1is-..Ghal mers..;Men waukee, Wis,

' Applicationnprilfi, 1950,,Serial No. 155,610.

This invention relates. generally to grain sacking devices and is. more particularly concerned with an improvement of the type. of sacking device having a grain chute with diverging leg portions and avalve for selectively directing the grain into one ,or the other of the leg portions.

In the bagging of grain, particularly after it has been milled for, feed or the like, the loss of grain through leakage is. often considerable, and therefore, it is desirable 'toavoid suchwa's'tewherever possible. Onecommoniorm'of bagging 5 Claims, (01. car-.13)

attachment oomprisesga singlefchute through.

which the grain passes into "a' selected one ffof two diverging leg portion's of the""'chuteand then into 'a'bag held ope'n'attheend ofj theleg. When a bag has beenfilledfthe' entranceinto' that leg portion may be 'blockedbya valvemean's, and the grain is then diverted'intoa bag held by the other leg portion of 'thechut so "that the filled bag may be removedand replaced by anempty one. Many types of valvefme'ans hav'e been employed to' thusdi'vert the flow or grain from one leg to the'oth'er' but leakagepast the valve into; the bagless leg'has remained a con-'- stant problem: And. it seems 'that' the; area immediately surrounding the aXis-"of the' valve movement is the scene? of. the gre'ate'st loss in that it has been-difficult toprovideiah efiective seal at the junction of theitwo' legiportionsand the valve without hamperingthemovement of thevalve.

It iS,;thGI'GfOI', the primaryobject of this invention to provide valve..rn'eans; forntheabdve mentioned type of grainj'divider, having a flexible I sealing means coactable. therewith to efiectively and positively. prevent flow from' onesi'de 'of the valv'eto the'other in' the region o movement of the valve.

Another object ofithe present inventionjs tof provide a valvemeans, fora grain divider having of the crotch and wherein the s'p therebetween.

It i also mi e t Ifhisv vient qaie p qrid .H s e ih fi advantages mentioned above, which is'sim'ple and a valve and sealing means therefor, a

a ve ne g esivei .cqn' r c does not require freguent repair prrep The construction and operation er apparatus e an er embodying this invention will become. more readily apparent as the disclosure progresses andly, thepresent invention may be considered as comprising the variousconstructions, combinations and/or subco'mbination s ofparts as hereinafter more fully set forth in the detailed de scription and appended clairn's reference being had to the accompanyingdraWings, in which-:--

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of apparatus einbodying thevpresent inventionwithfportions broken away for sake of clarity;

Fig. 2 is a view taken alongline II--II in Fig. 1; and f Fig. 3 is aview 'taken alongline III -JII in Referring to Fig; 1 it may be seen that apparatus embodying the present invention comprises generally a grain divider l haying'an upper main chute 2 terminating at-i-ts lowe'r end a pair or" diverging leg portions; and 4; and a mamially operablevalve meg-115 a selectively positionableto direct grain into on'eorthe otheriof I leg portions. More specifically, grain divider l is preferably made ofsheje'tfinet'all-o like Withafiangedportion 1 iormedat thel I thereof for attach'rfnent ofthe'graindivider to a mill chu'te a; as by'jiivets 10-.- The lower portion offthe divider o'rbag giifg "attachment com a pair of diverging :sheet "metal l'eg' pqrtions a dihedral angular [crotch inefmberfl w the width'offthe le'g'sXFig. 2 Oppo po'rtions:or" :crotch member l aifefprov dedg ar flanges I 2 afiordirig surface bearin g oon;

movement and :tihaving adjant spaced edges ttac lied li e .iwq-j, 3 with respect to serrated surface 20 so as to releasably grip the edge portion of a bag therebetween, as shown in Fig. 1. The grain divider structure just described should sufiice for a complete understanding of the present invention, and it is, therefore, believed that a more detailed description of such structure is unnecessary.

Looking also at Figs. 2 and 3 it is noted that control valve means 6 is provided for the purpose of selectively diverting the flow of grain, or other material being dispensed through mill chute 8, into either of the two leg portions 3 and 4 and thence into bags held by device I6. Valve means 6 comprises generally an operating crank. l9z,

having a shaft portion 22 which extends through and is journaled in opposite walls of divider I in vertically spaced relation to the apex of crotch member II for rotation about an axis parallel thereto, and a pair of spaced plate members 23 flanking shaft 22 on opposite sides thereof. These plates diverge downwardly and present inner edges 24 which are spaced from the top surface of crotch member II and are generally coextensive therewith. The opposite side edges of plates 23, that is the edges adjacent the opposite ends of shaft 22, extend to the opposed side wall portions of divider I, as best seen in Fig. 2 Plate members 23 are somewhat semielliptical in shape to conform with the preferred configuration of the internal surface of the grain divider and a series of bolts 25 are disposed in tangential relation to shaft 22 through pairs of aligned openings (not shown) in the plates to secure same in place with respect to crank 19.

As shown in Fig. 3, the preferred arrangement,

for bolts 25 includes a bolt in tangential contact with the under side of the bent center portion of shaft 22 and at least one bolt adjacent each end of shaft 22 in tangential contact with respect to the upper side thereof.

The outer end portion 26 of plates 23, that is,

the portions most remote from shaft 22 are.

joined, as by spot welding, to form a unitary valve structure rotatable about the axis afforded by shaft 22. I

As previously mentioned, the inner end portions 24 of plate members 23 are flared somewhat and extend to a position in proximate relation to crotch member I I. And a flexible sealing means 21, which may be made of rubber or the like, is fixedly secured to the apex portion of crotch member ll and'presents a free end portion 28 extending upward into the space between valve end portions '24. More specifically, a pair of similar longitudinal strips of flexible material are joined along one edge thereof to form a bifurcated structure which is placed on crotch member H with the free edges thereof secured to opposite sides of member [land the joined edges extending upward between valve end portions 24.

Flexible sealing means 21lmay be fixedly secured to the crotch member in any suitable manner," but it is preferred that such means be removably inserted in place since it is wearable and, consequently, subject. to replacement. 7 And for this reason there are provided clamping elements 30 other at their line of juncture through the 00-- action of valve 6 and sealing means 21. And since the remainder of the valve means conforms with'the internal configuration ofa leg portion of the grain divider, it is selectively movable to effectively block off either leg with respect to the main chute 2 and thus divert the flow of grain to the other leg.

And although shown with respect to a particular embodiment, it is not intended to thereby limit the present invention to the construction shown and described as, various modifications thereof within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a grain divider having a main chute with a'pair' 'of diverging legs separated by a dihedral 'angularcrotch, a valve operating shaft journaled the side walls of said chute for rotation aboutan axis spaced from and generally parallel to the apex of said crotch, a valve member attached to said shaft for oscillation between two limiting positions in which it substantially blocks one and the other of said legs from communication with said main chute, said valve having spaced plate portions flanking said shaft on opposite sides and extending in the general direction of said crotch, and a flexible resilient sealing strip carried by said crotch and having a free edge extending upward between said plate extensions, said strip being engaged by opposite ends of said plates with said valve in its limiting positions. r

2. In a grain divider having a main chute with a pair of diverging legs separated by a dihedral angular crotch, a valve operating shaft journaled in the side walls of said chute for rotation about an axis spaced from and parallel to the apex of said crotch, a valve member attached to said shaft for oscillation between two limiting positions in which it substantially blocks one and the other of said legs from communication with said main chute, said valve having spaced plate portions flanking said shaft on opposite sides and extending in the general direction of said crotch, and a flexible sealing means comprising a pair of resilient members 'secured to adjacent side walls of said legs and presenting a free edge extending upward from said crotch and between said plate extensions, said resilient members being engaged by opposite ends of said plates with said valve in its limitingrp'ositio'n.

3. In a grain divider having a main chute with a pair of diverging legs separated by a dihedral angular crotch, a valve operating shaft journaled in the side walls of said chute for rotation about an axis spaced from and parallel to the apex of said crotch, a valve member attached to said shaft for oscillation between two limiting posi-- tions in which itsubstantially blocks one and the:

other of said legs from communication with said.

main chute, said valve having spaced plate portions flanking said shaft on opposite sides and extending in the general direction of said crotch,

and a flexible sealing means comprising a pair of resilient members secured to the adjacent side walls of said legs and presenting free edge portions which arev joined together and extend upward between said plate extensions, said resilient members being engaged by opposite ones of said plates with said'valve in its limiting position.

4. In a grain divider having a main chute With a pair of diverging legs separated by an angular crotch, a valve operating shaft journaled in the side walls of said chute for rotation about an axis spaced from and parallel to the apex of said crotch, said shaft being formed of a single length of rod material bent intermediate its journaled portions to form a crank, a valve member attached to said shaft for oscillation between two.

limiting positions in which it substantially blocks one and the other of said legs from communication with said chute, said valve having spaced plate portions flanking said shaft on opposite sides and extending in the general direction of said crotch, and a flexible sealing strip carried by said crotch and having a free edge extending upward between said plate extensions, said strip being engaged by opposite ones of said plates with said valve in its limiting positions.

5. In a grain divider having a main chute with a pair of diverging legs separated by an angular crotch, a valve operating shaft journaled in the side walls of said chute for rotation about an axis spaced from and parallel to the apex of said crotch, said shaft being formed of a single length of rod material bent intermediate its journaled portions to form a crank, a valve 20 member attached to said shaft for oscillation between two limiting positions in which it substantially blocks one and the other of said legs REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 304,259 Brunton Aug. 26, 1884 1,358,446 Hull Nov. 9, 1920 2,108,183 Sjoberg Feb. 1 5, 1938 

